Exercise and Nausea?

After my workout on yesterday I experienced extreme feelings of nausea.  It lasted for about an hour and a half.  My workout was pretty challenging.  I did 60 mins on my eliptical machine and then 40 mins of of cardio sculpt (aerobics with weights).  I think that I have pushed myself harder and even longer so I don't understand this feeling on yesterday.  I did not eat prior to working out and only drank crystal light during my workout.  My son told me that when he is running track he has seen several kids finish their distance and then throw up.  This was strange to me.  Anyone else experience anything like this? Angela

Yep.  I never feel right for about 30 min or so after a tough workout.  I just figure my body is in shock. 

yes!  Just reently after my work out at the Y--I was fine until I sat down, then nausea-sweat from every pore and trembling all over, I felt just awful.....my Nut called the next day to check in and I told her about it, she said it was a low blood sugar reaction, that and I had been doing too much exercise and not enough calories--the solution is eat a high protein meal before exercise and plenty of water. Take Care,

Hello Angela, While there could be several reasons for this, it is most often caused by your diet. During exercise, especially relatively intense exercise, your muscles will utilize muscle glycogen which is a storage form of glucose (sugar). You will also remove glucose from the blood for use to fuel exercise. As a result, your blood sugar may drop and cause nausea by the end of your training session. This becomes extremely apparent when you are restricting your caloric consumption whether it be after weight loss surgery or on a self controlled low calorie diet (this is especially true when restricting carbohydrate). When exercise sessions last longer and 60 minutes or so, these issues maybe become even more pronounced. Bottom line...prior to exercise you need to consume adequate carbohydrate. I saw one response that said a high protein meal will solve this problem. Unfortunately, protein does very little to provide energy during exercise or for that matter, any other time of day. So, a high protein meal is NOT the answer to this problem. Is a high protein meal better than consuming nothing? Yes, but it is not optimal. I would suggest consuming a meal that is rich in high quality carbohydrate about 30-45 minutes prior to exercising. Several examples of this include oat meal, apples, bananas, and whole grain breads. You may also include some high quality protein such as a small glass of milk (soy milk is ok as well), but there is no doubt that high quality carbohydrate should be the focus. This will help stabilize blood sugar levels and assist you in maintaining high intensity exercise. It will also help prevent your blood glucose from dropping below appropriate levels. If your exercise sessions last 90 minutes or longer, you may want to consume some carbohydrate during your exercise session. In no way shape or form will this have a negative impact on weight loss. In fact, it will most likely help as it enables you to maintain a higher intensity of exercise for longer periods of time. It will probably make your exercise sessions a little more pleasant as well, since nausea is not the best feeling in the world. Hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions.

Jeremy, Wow what a difference.  This morning before exercise I did eat some oatmeal and it was just amazing how different I felt.  Not only after the exercise session but especially during!!!! It was wonderful, I walked 3.5 miles and felt great. This afternoon before my exercise session I ate a banana and was able to walk another 3 miles and felt great and still feel great even now! Thanks a bunch, Angela

If you ever have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Happy it worked for you. Keep it up!

Hey Jeremy, I have a new question for ya!  Lately, when I am walking for a long distance (ex. yesterday I walked 2 hours straight a little over 6 miles) my hands swell up.  Especially my right hand.  I spoke with my doc's office today, and his nurse said that maybe we should do more blood work.  Have you ever heard of this happening?  After I finish walking and cool down, if I sit and raise my hands for a while, the swelling goes away.  Right back to normal within an hour or so.  Any advice? Angela

Hello Angela, Can you provide me a little more info about your health history? Please address some of the following and anything else I have missed that you know of. - blood pressure issues - any lymphatic complications - are you taking diuretics - any other surgeries other than WLS? - any other specific health problems

Absolutely nothing else wrong.  My blood pressure has always been great.  I've been told that I have a slower than normal thyroid.  I take no medications other than vitamins and an all natural thyroid support supplement.  Today when I was walking (for an hour exactly****pt flexing my hands while I was walking, like squeezing a ball.  That helped some, but I could still feel a difference, and I believe that had I had the time to do the other hour, they may have started swelling.  Now on the other hand, I can ride the eliptical machine for an hour straight and feel nothing in my hands.  It is only when I walk for longer than an hour or hour and a half.

Ok so a couple of things could be occurring that may have a simple fix but I would certainly follow up with your health care provider if things start getting worse. This is actually a fairly common issue. One thing that may help as you have kind of established by squeezing the ball, is to simply move your hands every now and then while walking. You may need to get your hands above your heart instead of allowing your arms to essentially dangle while you walk. Try making circles with your arms and/or stretch your arms above your head every now and then while you walk. If you don't mind walking with a walking stick or hiking stick, you may want to try this while changing hands every once in a while. Also, make sure that you are consuming enough fluids and electrolytes during the day. While it is possible to get too much water that is not generally the concern...its usually too little water that is the problem....this can cause edema. Too much or too little electrolytes may also cause edema. Let me know if this helps after a couple of days.